On Feb. 2 in Punxsutawney, PA, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle members gather on stage to announce whether or not Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. The legend says that if Phil sees his shadow, then there will be six more weeks of winter, and if Phil doesn’t see his shadow, there will be an early spring.
Groundhog Day is the dumbest tradition that America has ever had, and we need to get rid of it.
Some might say that there are worse traditions in America, like the annual Presidential Turkey Pardoning. This is when the president pardons two turkeys prior to Thanksgiving, signifying that the turkeys are unable to be killed and eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. While I do agree that this tradition isn’t great by any means, it is certainly not anywhere near as dumb as Groundhog Day.
Another argument that could be made for Groundhog Day is that attending the ceremony is a fun experience and it’s something any family can do. Best of all, it’s free for the most part, so literally anyone can attend. If you do attend the festivities, there are bonfires where event goers can talk to others, and even a souvenir tent for families to bring home mementos.
These are all valid arguments, and while you might think that the Presidential Turkey Pardoning is the worst tradition, almost no one pays attention to it. That’s what makes Groundhog Day so stupid, people truly listen to it and believe that a simple groundhog can control the weather like a wizard, and either bring an early spring or give us six more weeks of winter.
The reason why I don’t think that going to the Groundhog Ceremony is worth it is that there’s nothing special or exclusive to the event. The tent is just a regular tent that says “Punxsutawney, PA” on it and to get into the area where the tents are you have to pay an $80 fee for the VIP pass. Additionally, there isn’t any food that is a “must-have:” it’s all normal food, pancakes, muffins, doughnuts, etc. There’s nothing there that you can’t make at home while watching the ceremony on your TV.
The last reason for why Groundhog Day is the worst US tradition is that Phil is wildly inaccurate. Punxsutawney Phil has around a 36% chance of predicting the weather correctly, meaning that about 40,000 people gather in freezing weather to watch a brown furball get lifted into the air – just for it to not even be right more than 50% of the time. To put that into perspective, the Washington Nationals home field, Nationals Park, can hold about 41,500 people. You can nearly fill a professional baseball stadium with people who are waiting to watch a groundhog get held in the air.
The solution to this problem is clear: get rid of this pointless tradition. We can replace it, or even better, just downright forget about it and treat it like any other day.
